Breaking Point
by write that wrong
Summary: Everyone has their breaking point. For Hiccup, the constant assurances of pride he now receives from his father a few months after killing the Red Death should feel like a welcome change. Instead it's a source of constant anger that has just been building. What happens when he reaches his breaking point and yells everything he has been holding back for years?
1. Chapter 1

**AN: So, my first How to Train Your Dragon fic. I hope that I haven't made any of them too out of character. It is going to be a short, probably three chapter story. I hope you enjoy. I don't own How to Train Your Dragon. Please follow, review, PM, etc.**

"Uh oh," Gobber whispered, staring between the tense forms of father and son. He didn't like where this was going and he couldn't tell which one of them was about to be hurt.

It had all been going so well, the teens were training in the arena, practicing maneuvers with their dragons. "Now, attack," Hiccup ordered. There was a responding flurry of spikes and fire that struck with deadly precision, luckily, in the target cut outs they were using.

"Good," the boy commented, inspecting the thoroughly dead dummies. "Why don't we try mixing some attacks between the dragons so maybe we have a flaming Nadder spike or some cloak from the Zipplebacks before the strike." The teens drilled again, discussing the options amongst themselves before executing the maneuver with precision. It wasn't often that the training went off without a hitch, but today seemed to be a day where the sun was smiling kindly down at them.

Stoick looked on by the door, Gobber by his side. "Sure nice ta see Hiccup in his element," the blacksmith commented, gazing at the teen fondly.

"He's a natural leader," Stoick responded.

Gobber couldn't help but roll his eyes slightly. That was the only type of response to be expected from the chief. Nothing about Hiccup's new found confidence or how nice it was to see the boy happy.

"Hey dad, Gobber," Hiccup called, noticing the two standing there. He walked over, Night Fury trailing behind him like a puppy. "I think we made some real progress today," he continued, staring at the other teens with an almost unreadable expression. Was it pride? Satisfaction? Happiness?

"Ya did great!" Gobber replied, clapping the lad on the back. Hiccup shot him back a wide smile, green eyes twinkling slightly.

"You really did son," Stoick added in, staring straight ahead. His averted gaze didn't allow him to see Hiccup's smile falter.

"Thanks," the teen murmured.

The chief looked back down, startled by the less than enthusiastic reply. His son's face was lacking the good cheer it had worn just moments before. What had he said wrong? "I really do mean it Hiccup."

"Sure, thanks," came the gruff reply as the rider began to walk away. Stoick grabbed at his son's arm, turning him around.

"What?" he asked, more harshly than he intended, "What did I do wrong?"

"Nothing dad." There was a tense moment of silence where the two stared at one another and Hiccup was released.

"I want to fix this," Stoick said earnestly.

"There's nothing to fix." His dad's eyes widened slightly at the cold response. Hiccup groaned internally, that wasn't what he had meant. He could feel heat rising in his cheeks as he struggled to control his anger. This irrational feeling had been coming over him a lot lately. His father was trying to make amends, why couldn't he forgive and forget like always?

"Well clearly there is," Stoick hissed, patience officially wearing thin. "All I did was tell you I'm proud of you and you brush me off." The rising tone got the attention of the other teens and there was a long moment of silence.

"Uh oh," Gobber whispered, staring between the tense forms of father and son. His friend looked briefly back at him with confusion before his son exploded.

"You want to talk about brushing someone off! You have absolutely no right," Hiccup seethed, "The only time you ever took notice of me was when I screwed up. I'm sorry I wasn't the Viking you wanted me to be, that you weren't _proud _of me." Stoick's green eyes were almost comically wide by this time and the rant wasn't even half over. There was so much anger in Hiccup's voice that it didn't even sound like him. His words were being spat out harshly as if they burned, "Nothing ever worked! The only way I finally got your attention was by almost getting myself killed. Is that Viking enough for you? Well I'll tell you one thing, I don't care anymore. I sure as hell don't need your pride now after all these years and I sure as hell don't need you."

Hiccup's breath was coming quicker as he nearly quivered with rage. No one had ever seen him yell like that and the outburst was met with absolute gobsmacked silence. Green orbs suddenly lost all their fire as he glanced around quickly at everyone staring at him. Guilt flickered through his eyes as he jumped on Toothless and flew away.

"Well that was different," Tuffnut commented, pulling his sister's hair. The sound of their squabbling was the only one in the arena. It seemed to bring everyone out of their daze.

"What just happened?" Fishlegs called out to no one in particular.

"I think Hiccup finally lost it," Snotlout bluntly put it.

Astrid stepped forward, ignoring the frozen chief. "I'm going after him," she stated, already turning for her dragon.

"Remember," Gobber called, "He's like a dragon, build trust and approach with caution."

"Don't forget come to an agreement with Toothless," she muttered before flying off.

The sudden departure snapped Stoick out of whatever state he had been in. "What was all that?" he asked hoarsely.

"The Astrid part or the Hiccup part?"

"Both."

"Well," Gobber began, stroking his beard thoughtfully with his prosthetic, "the Astrid part was a conversation we have had about how to approach Hiccup. He's like a dragon really, liable to fly off if you don't do things delicately. Even more so since he got that dragon of his." He trailed off into silence. However, his friend's persistent stare caused him to keep going. "The Hiccup stuff, well that's just 14 years of repressed anger finally deciding to show itself."

"Thor, what have I done?" murmured Stoick. His green eyes gazed sadly skywards as if looking for divine help, or at least his son to come riding back down on his Night Fury.

"Doesn't matter what you have done, just matters what you're going to do. Hiccup's very forgiving."

"That didn't look forgiving."

Gobber paused, actually thinking about it. He shrugged. "True, never seen him like that before."

"What do I do?" Stoick asked, surprisingly quietly for such a large man.

"It's like I told Astrid, Hiccup is like a dragon. To approach him, ya have to do it carefully. First its about trust, then slow movements until you are sure he won't fly off. Only realized the similarity between dragons after we started training em."

The chief sighed, "I don't think he wants to talk to me."

"Just let him calm down first," Gobber instructed.

Stoick nodded mutely, green eyes still gazing sadly skyward. His friend gave him a rough pat on the back before heading off.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Thank you so much to everyone who has read and reviewed. I hope the concept is interesting. In this chapter, there's some Hiccup and Astrid fluff and comfort. I hope I've kept them in character. I don't own How to Train Your Dragon. As always, please review, comment, PM, follow, etc. **

Astrid circled the forest, both her and Stormfly gazing down into the trees, scanning for a certain Night Fury and its rider. "Do you see them girl?" she asked, patting her dragon's head.

Suddenly, there was a rush of wind as the Nadder dived, nearly eliciting a laugh of glee from the Viking girl. However, she held it in, not wanting to alert Hiccup to her presence. It was no surprise when they landed in the cove, the one place on the island that seemed to be apart from everything. Sitting in the middle of the serene landscape was Toothless, curled up with his wings around something, presumably Hiccup. His green eyes looked sad and worried, emotions that are so human it was hard not to see dragons as almost such.

"Hey Toothless," Astrid called, dismounting from Stormfly and caressing her snout. She walked forwards a few steps, looking directly at the black dragon. "Can you let me talk to him?" She gestured towards Toothless' wings where she knew Hiccup to be hiding.

Slowly, the Night Fury unfurled his wings, exposing a scowling Hiccup. "Thank you for nothing, you useless reptile," he muttered darkly.

"Give him a break," Astrid commented, "He doesn't like you to be upset and he knows I can help. Isn't that right Toothless?" She turned towards the dragon, allowing Hiccup some time to collect himself. She allowed Toothless to nuzzle her hand and she gave him a scratch under the chin, eliciting a purr from the overgrown puppy.

Finally, the girl turned back towards the heir of Berk who was still leaning against his dragon, staring moodily off into space. She examined his face for a second, noticing the obvious signs of worry and hurt that lay beneath his paper-thin mask. She had gotten pretty good at reading his face in the last few months as he was a lot more transparent than he thought.

"Hiccup," she began, getting him to at least look at her before she was cut off.

"I know what you are going to say," he snapped back, summoning all of his remaining anger (which was rather pitiful to tell the truth). "You shouldn't have yelled at your father, he did nothing to you. Go back and apologize. Well, I don't want to, so you can just save it." His normally light green eyes seemed almost stormy with emotion.

Astrid dropped down beside him. "That wasn't what I was going to say." She noted his surprised expression before moving on. "I was _going _to tell you that I was proud of you for finally telling your father everything you wanted to say."

Hiccup's eyes went wide with surprise. "Wait, what, really, why?" he stuttered out finally.

Punching him lightly on the arm, she laughed a little, especially at him rubbing his sore shoulder. "Because, all of it was true and he needed to hear it."

"But—"

She cut him off, "No buts."

"Yes buts," he insisted, running a hand through his hair. "I just single handedly destroyed any chance we have at a relationship. Did you see the look on his face?"

"Yes," Astrid replied bluntly, "He was shocked but I think he realized you were right."

"That's even worse," Hiccup yelled. "Why couldn't I just keep quiet for once?" He muttered darkly for a moment before she pressed a quick kiss to his lips, silencing the tirade.

As they pulled apart, both flushed deeply but he murmured a quick, "Thanks."

"Now," she announced, hiding her embarrassment. "Get off your moping butt and go fix this."

"You know, I think I'd really rather stay on my moping butt, thank you very much," Hiccup said sarcastically. She rolled her eyes, really, when was he not sarcastic.

"I'm not taking no for an answer," Astrid warned.

"You're playing a dangerous game," he shot back, tone light. "You could never outrace a Night Fury."

"Toothless is on my side with this one," she retorted.

Hiccup looked over to his dragon, directly into his green eyes. Toothless pointed a snout towards Berk, confirming Astrid's claim.

"Traitor," Hiccup muttered.

"Now come on," Astrid called, hauling him up by his arm. Desperate, he tried to pull away.

"No really, I'm good to stay here … for the rest of my life." She just kept pulling him, iron grip too strong to escape. "Jeez you have a lot of strength." She wouldn't respond, just kept marching him through the woods. "Please Astrid," he begged, turning green eyes towards her.

Finally, she looked at him, blue eyes finally taking in his pleading. "What are you so afraid of?" she questioned, immediately regretting her choice of words. Hiccup's walls were up once more, back to being guarded as he always had been around everyone before.

"Me?" he scoffed, "I'm not afraid of anything."

"Yes you are," she responded lightly. In response to his glare, she kept going, "It's okay to be afraid." She took a breath and then took the plunge. "Did I ever tell you what I was afraid of?"

He shook his head, green eyes wide as he stopped struggling to free himself. Astrid smiled inwardly at her success and then began to speak. "I was afraid that my parents would make me stop Dragon Training if I didn't prove myself. That's why I always trained so hard."

"Really?" he muttered. She nodded and he looked her straight in the eyes. "I think the whole island would have revolted if you had been pulled from Dragon Training. You are the strongest, smartest, bravest warrior this island has ever known."

"Thanks Hiccup," she murmured. Here he was comforting her when it was supposed to be the other way around. He was the one who was upset right now. That was just like him to help those around him, no matter what. "Now your turn."

He averted his eyes, blushing at his previous outburst and now the thought of having to spill his fears. "I guess my fear hasn't changed, or at least one of them," he reluctantly confided. After an encouraging nod, he continued, "I'm afraid I can never make my father proud."

"You already have," Astrid confirmed Stoick's earlier words.

"Why now? I haven't changed," Hiccup asked, voice breaking a little as he fought to hold back his emotions.

Astrid tucked a piece of hair behind her ears. "You have changed, but you've just become more you." He scowled, refusing to meet her gaze.

"That's a good thing," she assured, but he didn't look so convinced. Shaking her head, she kept going, "Stoick is really the one who has changed and it's been you who has been causing that. All he needs is your help."

Hiccup eyes expressed his inner doubts which Astrid could read like a book. She was shocked by how little he still valued his self worth. "Just talk to him," she said lowly.

"I don't know how," he admitted, distraught.

"You'll think of something, you always do." Then, she began to walk with Hiccup still in tow. The dragons who had been left out of the conversation trailed after them. The sun was starting to set and it was casting shadows all through the forest. Beautiful oranges and reds peaked over the trees, coloured light intermingling with the darkness.

As they neared the village, Hiccup's struggling began anew. "Why don't we talk about this some more," he begged. "Or maybe leave Berk for a few weeks, or years." Astrid shook her head but refused to respond to this again. She was just doing what was best for him.

"If we go grab dinner first before going to your house will you shut up," she demanded. He nodded emphatically and she reluctantly acquiesced, turning towards the Great Hall. When they arrived, Hiccup scanned the room, visibly relaxing when he didn't see his father there.

The two of them sat down with their dinners and were joined momentarily by the rest of the teens.

"That was epic Hiccup," Tuffnut commented.

"Ya, I've never seen someone screw up that badly," Snotlout added.

"Thanks," Hiccup muttered tiredly, closing his eyes for a second. Luckily he did, for he missed the death glares sent around the table by Astrid as well as her not so subtle hints of what she would do if they kept it up.

When he opened his eyes, they had all marshaled their features into polite expressions. He glanced at Astrid who was playing innocent.

Eventually, they launched into conversation, Hiccup staying silent. His … girlfriend? … shot him occasional looks but left him alone for the most part. Finally, when she was absorbed in an argument with Snotlout, he managed to sneak away from the table, encouraging Toothless to follow him. They were gone in a moment, leaving a confused Astrid behind when she realized. _He's so stubborn,_ she thought grumpily.

As he made his way out of the Great Hall, Hiccup sighed with relief, walking beside his dragon. "Sorry Bud, I just can't go face my father yet." Toothless cooed at him, nudging his human with his snout.

"Want to go flying?" The dragon responded eagerly, dipping down so that Hiccup could get on and in a few seconds, they were off, soaring through the deepening night. The wind whistled through Hiccup's hair, momentarily taking his mind off of everything that had happened. "This is the life," he murmured happily.

Toothless roared his agreement, shooting off a plasma blast before deftly avoiding it so as not to char his rider once again. They pulled off crazy maneuvers, climbing as high as the clouds before diving down, pulling up right before the waves. At one point, they flew with another dragon who was making his way through the area. When the night had fully set, they decided to go back.

Touching down softly, Hiccup realized he was right in front of his house. There was no glow of candles, so he assumed it would be safe to enter through the front door. As expected, the house was empty and he made his way tiredly to his room, opting to curl up with Toothless instead of using his bed.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Thanks to everyone who read my story and especially to those who reviewed. I got a lot more feedback than I thought I would, so thank you. In this chapter is the anticipated talk between Hiccup and his father. Enjoy! I do not own How to Train Your Dragon.**

Soft light filtered through the dragon's wing, waking Hiccup up part of the way. However, it was heavy foot steps and the sound of his father's voice that really accomplished this task.

"I know he's with you Toothless," Stoick's gruff voice sounded. The dragon growled up at the larger man, pupils narrowing slightly in dislike. "I just want to talk to him." There was a pause, and then a surprisingly gentle, "Please."

Toothless' resistance crumbled and he exposed his rider who he nudged gently with his wings. Hiccup's face was neutral but if Stoick had been looking into his eyes, he could have seen the wide variety of emotions playing out there. He couldn't decide whether he was angry, upset, scared, happy his dad had come to speak to him or annoyed.

He settled on annoyed as that was the only emotion he knew how to deal with. He stood quickly, deftly attaching his prosthetic. "Thanks for the wakeup, but I think we'll be going." He put his real leg into the stirrups, about to lift himself onto his dragon when he got a shake of the head from the reptile. His expression fell, "Toothless," he cried, shocked. The dragon moved to stand by the window, blocking his exit. "Traitor," he murmured for the second time in as many days. He glanced briefly at his dad who was unintentionally blocking his other exit before he flopped down on his bed.

"Hiccup," Stoick began softly, "I may not understand everything about you but I'm willing to listen and I know you have your own side to this."

"Stop, just … stop," Hiccup sighed, raising his hands in defeat. He was sitting on his bed with his prosthetic dangling over the side as if ready to bolt at a moment's notice. "I know you have no idea how to talk to me, but shamelessly copying from Gobber isn't the way to go either."

A hint of surprise flickered across his father's face. He hadn't even been quoting Gobber directly, how had Hiccup known?

"I'm smarter than that," his son said, answering the unspoken question.

"You're smarter than all of Berk combined," Stoick laughed, about to sit on the bed, before he thought to ask his son's permission. "May I?" There was a hesitant nod and he took that as acceptance.

There was a tense moment of silence after Stoick was settled on the bed. Hiccup was the one to break it. "Look, I'm sorry. Everything I said was out of line and I'd like it if we could just forget it and move on." His expression was hopeful, green eyes staring expectantly up at his father who slowly shook his head. Hiccup's face fell.

"You were right, " Stoick stated briskly. "I can't just forget everything I put you through, as much as I would like to change it." He noticed his boy's look of complete and utter shock. Did he seriously not trust him enough to admit when he was wrong? Well, he never had before. "You are a better Viking than anyone I have ever known."

"Even you?" Hiccup jokingly questioned, eyes twinkling.

"Even me," Stoick confirmed, earning another shocked face from his son.

Hiccup leaned back wearily against his pillows, eyes boring a hole in the ceiling. Toothless came over and nudged his rider's side so that the boy put a hand on his snout, stroking it unconsciously.

"You want to know the funniest part?" Hiccup questioned. Stoick was unsure if he was talking to his father, himself, or the dragon. Nevertheless, the boy plowed on, "I finally am considered a Viking when I go against all Viking traditions possible and befriend the dragons, who had once been our mortal enemies." He laughed weakly.

"What you did was more Viking-like than most Vikings," Stoick assured.

His son laughed once more before asking heatedly, "What does it even mean to be a Viking?"

The chief was about to answer back all of the things he had once been told. To be a Viking is to be brave in the face of battle and never back down from your enemies, no matter the cost. To be a Viking was to be too proud to admit defeat and to never cry. However, the words died on his tongue under the keen gaze of his son. Instead, he replied hesitantly, "To be a Viking is to do what is right and stand in battle for that no matter the cost."

Hiccup shook his head sadly, "No, to be a Viking is …" and he quoted back everything Stoick had been about to say. "And I'm not a Viking." His gaze was averted as he stared sadly down at his sheets.

Stoick leaned forwards, doing something he hadn't done in Thor knows how long, he pulled Hiccup's hands into his own. Green eyes looked hesitantly up into his. "Maybe what it means to be a Viking has changed to a better definition. One that allows for all shapes and sizes of Vikings."

Hiccup cracked a smile, tears shining in his eyes, but he refused to let them fall.

Finally, Stoick got down to what he had been meaning to say all along. "I'm sorry for the way I treated you before. I don't care if you are the old definition of a Viking, the new one or none at all. I'm proud of you and I'm proud of everything you have done since you were born. I'm sorry it took me so long to figure it out." His voice was gruff and somewhat detached, like one of a chief but Hiccup could hear the true emotions behind it. His smile widened.

Again for the first time in too long, Stoick pulled his son into a hug, noticing the initial stiffening before Hiccup threw his arms as far as he could reach around his father.

"I love you dad."

"I love you too, son." The moment was ruined seconds later by an impatient black dragon who wanted to get in on the fun. There he was, licking Hiccup's face and making him cry out in laughter.

"Toothless, that doesn't come out." Stoick joined in, enjoying Hiccup's laughter for the first time in what seemed like forever. There were too many things he hadn't seen, done or heard in too long of a time and he was going to fix that, he just needed one more answer.

"Why did you never get angry and yell of this before now?"

Hiccup's expression immediately closed off again, unintentionally hurting his father. Green eyes wouldn't raise from the floorboards which had apparently become very interesting.

"I just want to know," Stoick encouraged gently. Still, his son was silent but finally, Toothless nudged the boy, staring between him and his father.

Reluctantly, the rider finally spoke, "I did get angry but I kept it in check."

Stoick waited for the rest of the response, but he realized it wouldn't be forthcoming. "Then why now?"  
>Hiccup sighed, running a hand through his auburn hair. "It was an accident," he admitted sheepishly, briefly looking up at his father. "I just … I don't know, I guess now I'd have something to fall back on if it didn't work out."<p>

The larger man's bushy brows bunched together in confusion and then smoothed out as his son reached out a hand towards his dragon. Stoick sighed, reaching over to pat the dragon as well, much to the astonishment of both Hiccup and Toothless.

Quite seriously, the chief looked the Night Fury directly in the eyes. "Toothless, I want to thank you for taking care of my son when I was too blind to do so." The dragon leaned forwards, directly towards the palm of the redheaded Viking. A look passed between them, one of mutual protection towards the smaller boy on the bed.

"Hiccup," Stoick began, unsure of exactly how to say this. However, looking into his son's emerald green eyes, he did his best, speaking from the heart. "I have treated you unfairly and I haven't been a good father. I know that when you feel safer around a dragon than me that I need to admit it." He raised a hand for silence when it looked like Hiccup was about to protest. "You have to know that you are the best thing that has ever happened to me and that you will never need to have a fall back. You can come to me with anything. I know you may not believe me now, but I will prove it to you, no matter how long it takes."

There was a moment of silence as the two assessed each other, determining whether or not they should speak. Finally, Hiccup broke the silence. "I believe you," he stated simply. Then, he leaned forwards, pulling his dad into a hug which was returned with equal enthusiasm. Behind the other's back, each of them was holding back tears, feeling comfort in the almost forgotten warmth of this gesture. Stoick vowed silently that he was going to get to know his son, understand him and actually have a relationship with him. They would be father and son once more.

**AN: So, I think this was the last chapter. I may do an epilogue if there is enough interest.**


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